I'm Back with Bread Pudding!

After a fun and crazy week in our old stomping grounds, Chicago, I’m back and ready to catch up. The weekend was a fun one filled with sunshine, good times with friends and LOTS of food. We made a point to visit many of our old haunts and favorite food spots-- cheap, yummy Thai food being the #1 victim of our hunger. Oh, and how can you not love such a gorgeous city? For inquiring minds, the tall building in the middle is Trump's latest monstrosity which is coming together quite nicely.

Though I spent the entire weekend drowning in gluttony, swearing to never eat again, my first post back is one of our favorite gluttonous treats: bread pudding.

Bread pudding is a strange one. Definitely one of my favorite desserts, but one with such a mediocre name. French Silk Pie… Tiramisu… even Mississippi Mud Pie conjure up images of deliciously sinful treats. Ones with sexy names.

Bread pudding, on the other hand, sounds like something probably served at the local Hometown Buffet.

Well, sexy or not bread pudding is amazingly delicious and though it may contain enough calories to last you a week, its worth it. I’ve used this recipe with a variety of breads, usually whatever’s leftover and I’ve had success with all experiments thus far. Cinnamon Raisin bread and whole wheat baguettes have historically turned out the best. Try it with your leftover, stale bread and let me know what you like! Off to go catch up on all the delicious blog posts I've missed out on.....

Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Warm Vanilla Bourbon Sauce

8 slices cinnamon raisin bread cubes, crusts removed (an equivalent amount of day old whole wheat baguette works well too)
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp butter
½ cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup low fat evaporated milk
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
dash of rum

Warm Vanilla Bourbon Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk and 3 tbsp milk mixed with 2 tsp cornstarch
1 tablespoon Bourbon whiskey
1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a round 9 inch cake pan.

2. Cut cinnamon raisin bread into medium sized cubes and arrange evenly in cake pan.

3. In a small frying pan over medium heat, sauté the raisins with a dash of cinnamon in a tbsp of butter until soft. Toss raisins and chocolate chips with bread cubes.

4. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sugars, milk, 1 tbsp cinnamon and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Allow to cool slightly and stir in vanilla. Temper the eggs by adding a few tablespoons of the butter sauce to the eggs. (This step raises the temperature of the eggs to prevent ‘scrambling!’) Add eggs to butter mixture and pour over bread cubes.

5. Create a water bath by filling a large baking pan with sides with ½ inch of water. Place cake pan in water bath & cover cake pan with foil. Bake in preheated oven 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes uncovered.

Vanilla Bourbon Sauce
6. After replacing the bread pudding in the oven to finish cooking, prepare the Bourbon sauce.

7. Whisk together 3 tbsp milk and cornstarch in a small bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add Bourbon and sugar and stir constantly until boiling. Slowly add cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce. Continue cooking until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when thick.

8. After removing bread pudding from oven, pour Bourbon sauce over the bread pudding. Let sit 5 minutes before serving to allow sauce to flavor the bread pudding. The sauce will continue to thicken and form a beautiful glaze over the bread pudding.